Instagram is adding a feature to allow shoppable photos on businesses Instagram account. This new feature allows businesses to capitalize from traffic on Instagram, and it allows Instagram to keep the traffic on their site. As a bonus, consumers can be more comfortable entering their credit card number to Instagram as opposed to "sketchy" websites.

Steps

Part 1

Setting Up your Business Instagram Account

1

Create your account if you don't have one, and make sure your branding is matching other social profiles and your website. Don't forget about themes, colors, and styling.

2

Cross-promote this account to your other social media platforms. Using special Instagram-only discount codes is always a good option. You can also reward people with a discount for following you and sharing something from their account.

3

Try to access the beta program. The Instagram Shoppable Photos are currently in Beta mode, so not everyone has access to it. Also, it is currently restricted to the United States exclusively. You can email them to request access to the Beta if you don't have it already, and they might send you the invite.

Part 2

Adding and Verifying Your Business Bank Information

1

Connect a business bank account to your Instagram account. To do this, you'll need your Routing and Account numbers (ABA) and enter them into the Bank Setup page.

2

Wait for verification. They will withdrawal $1 for verification purposes. This process will take up to 24 hours, so just wait for verification to complete.

Part 3

Creating Your Product Gallery and Descriptions

1

Use unique and eye-catching photos that best represent each product. You'll want to take these pictures yourself.

2

Add a unique product description to each item. In the description, include as much detail as you can, but don't be overly promotional.

3

Create a collective picture that has 5 different products contained within the one picture, if desired. For this, you'll want to make sure all 5 photos have a similar style and have unique descriptions for each of the 5 products.

Part 4

Analyzing Your Sales Funnel

1

Use tools to help you with analytics. Instagram doesn't have an analytics platform. There are third party providers that you can use to help study and measure the impact of your Instagram traffic.

The most important measure is the Conversion Rate. If you find that your average conversion rate is higher on Instagram than it is on your own website, you'll want to empower that fact.

2

Adjust your external and internal marketing to drive traffic directly to your Instagram account instead of your website. Before this change, Instagram acted as a "branding support", but now it can do everything your website can do - and a lot more. Consider changing the URLs on other social media profiles to drive traffic to your Instagram account instead of your website. Let your website become the "branding support" for your Instagram if it drives more conversion and leads to more sales.

3

Tweak your approach depending on your results. Over time, you'll gather more statistics and get a better idea of what products sell better and what hashtags gain you more exposure. Use these statistics to optimize your campaign to bring your products where the money is.